Choosing an iPhone with no 3G
September 29, 2010 4:15 PM
I am considering switching to the iPhone 4, which of course means switching to AT&T. I have never been on a GSM carrier before, and my home and office currently only get EDGE instead of 3G data, so I have some questions.
Some other relevant information:
I live near Charlottesville, VA. For the last five or so years, I've only been on Sprint (or Virgin Mobile). While I would not have 3g in my home or office, I have WIFI in both.
My concerns are:
1. I've heard AT&T has awful customer service.
2. The coverage map seems spotty.
3. What if my employer moves me to a place with little/bad AT&T service?
If you have dealt with any/all of these issues, I'd love to know what you think. Did you have to look past any of these issues to go with the iPhone? Was it worth it?
Thanks in advance.
Some other relevant information:
I live near Charlottesville, VA. For the last five or so years, I've only been on Sprint (or Virgin Mobile). While I would not have 3g in my home or office, I have WIFI in both.
My concerns are:
1. I've heard AT&T has awful customer service.
2. The coverage map seems spotty.
3. What if my employer moves me to a place with little/bad AT&T service?
If you have dealt with any/all of these issues, I'd love to know what you think. Did you have to look past any of these issues to go with the iPhone? Was it worth it?
Thanks in advance.
AT&T actually has a decent network, it's just overloaded and they are incapable of adding capacity. My iPhone service is generally quite good in remote areas. It's awful in San Francisco, I'd say my phone only works 50% of the time I try to use it. I'd guess Charlottesville is likely to be better, but if it doesn't work or you have to move somewhere where service is awful you will have no recourse.
If you want the fancy device but don't care about it being a phone or having mobile data service, buy an iPod Touch and go WiFi only.
posted by Nelson at 4:32 PM on September 29, 2010
If you want the fancy device but don't care about it being a phone or having mobile data service, buy an iPod Touch and go WiFi only.
posted by Nelson at 4:32 PM on September 29, 2010
the beautiful and amazing thing about EDGE is that you can have 5 bars and be completely unable to load a single web page. this isn't one of those "wow, what a weird fluke" things, either. it happens ALL THE TIME. i would consider alternatives.
posted by TrialByMedia at 4:33 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by TrialByMedia at 4:33 PM on September 29, 2010
The rumors about iPhone coming to Verizon in January are still alive: the latest rumor says they're gearing up to start production of CDMA models starting in December. Is it possible to wait just a bit?
posted by zsazsa at 4:53 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by zsazsa at 4:53 PM on September 29, 2010
Remember, the bars only mean how well the phone's radio is in contact with the cell tower. It doesn't indicate at all how well it will be in the future, or how fast anything will be. Just the connection between the little antenna in your phone and the little antenna on the tower. The whole damn thing (tower) could be unplugged and you'd still get 5 bars. Meaningless.
The answer is, all the carriers suck generally about equally. Apple is selling tons of iPhones, AT&T can't be all that bad. I've had AT&T through three different phones, and have had very little trouble with them.
Frankly, your level of satisfaction is going to depend on where you are and the exact phone you have. Anyone else's opinion is pretty much worthless.
EDGE is slow, probably not great for web browsing.
posted by gjc at 5:35 PM on September 29, 2010
The answer is, all the carriers suck generally about equally. Apple is selling tons of iPhones, AT&T can't be all that bad. I've had AT&T through three different phones, and have had very little trouble with them.
Frankly, your level of satisfaction is going to depend on where you are and the exact phone you have. Anyone else's opinion is pretty much worthless.
EDGE is slow, probably not great for web browsing.
posted by gjc at 5:35 PM on September 29, 2010
At the Apple Antennagate speech, along with a free case for all iPhone 4 users, Steve Jobs announced that you can return the phone within 30 days without any special restocking fees no questions asked. I'm not sure if this policy went expired along with the free cases (though they'll still give you a free bumper if you bitch about it) so you should call Apple and ask because it's a great opportunity to test out the phone for free-ish.
posted by sammich at 5:40 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by sammich at 5:40 PM on September 29, 2010
If I were you, I'd hold off and wait until the iphone jumps over to verizon. AT&T sucks and the new iphone has issues. (sorry, all of this was stated above, so I agree with sammich and zsazsa).
posted by TheBones at 5:47 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by TheBones at 5:47 PM on September 29, 2010
In my experience, the coverage map is quite accurate.
I've actually been very happy with my AT&T service. Besides the decent coverage, I get decently quick speeds (faster than my VZW friends) and I haven't had any significant number of dropped calls (also less than when I was on VZW). I recently upgraded to the iPhone 4 and am seeing that it's able to make calls and use data at noticably lower signal levels than my iPhone 3GS was, fwiw.
If you sign up for AT&T and discover that your service at home/work isn't acceptable, you can always return the phone (might want to double check on any restocking fees).
posted by Tu13es at 6:08 PM on September 29, 2010
I've actually been very happy with my AT&T service. Besides the decent coverage, I get decently quick speeds (faster than my VZW friends) and I haven't had any significant number of dropped calls (also less than when I was on VZW). I recently upgraded to the iPhone 4 and am seeing that it's able to make calls and use data at noticably lower signal levels than my iPhone 3GS was, fwiw.
If you sign up for AT&T and discover that your service at home/work isn't acceptable, you can always return the phone (might want to double check on any restocking fees).
posted by Tu13es at 6:08 PM on September 29, 2010
I was going to wait until the iphone 4 went to VZW but I thought about it and judging by how many people are planning on doing the same thing, I have no confidence that VZW will suddenly be any better.
AT&T is weird. I don't have problems anywhere except... at my gym. Which I attribute to being right across the street from a police station and some kind of interference from mysterious radio signals. I have no idea if I'm right. Some day I will call to complain, but in the large scope of things, I'm happy with my phone.
If you move somewhere that has no coverage, you're stuck. Your choice will be to have your employer pay the cancellation fee or wait it out.
posted by micawber at 8:40 PM on September 29, 2010
AT&T is weird. I don't have problems anywhere except... at my gym. Which I attribute to being right across the street from a police station and some kind of interference from mysterious radio signals. I have no idea if I'm right. Some day I will call to complain, but in the large scope of things, I'm happy with my phone.
If you move somewhere that has no coverage, you're stuck. Your choice will be to have your employer pay the cancellation fee or wait it out.
posted by micawber at 8:40 PM on September 29, 2010
As Nelson alluded to above, coverage is unpredictable. I'd strongly suggest quizzing an iPhone-wielding friend who lives in EXACTLY the neighborhood you do, and who traverses EXACTLY the same ground you do every day to see what their experience is like...and then make your decision.
I live in San Francisco and have SF friends who live in high coverage areas and they have no problems with their iPhones. I, on the other hand, was unable to use my iPhone as a PHONE for two years. That was very annoying. I finally broke it and moved to T-Mobile, which has been so much better, despite having to do all my iPhone data stuff on the slower TM EDGE network.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 11:35 PM on September 29, 2010
I live in San Francisco and have SF friends who live in high coverage areas and they have no problems with their iPhones. I, on the other hand, was unable to use my iPhone as a PHONE for two years. That was very annoying. I finally broke it and moved to T-Mobile, which has been so much better, despite having to do all my iPhone data stuff on the slower TM EDGE network.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 11:35 PM on September 29, 2010
1. No personal experience.
2. It is. Common complaint is it's terrible in SF and NY due to the high hipster density/excess demand. It's bad in my apartment in the SF suburbs but great in my office building.
3. No idea. I doubt their network is really worse than anyone else's overall.
Also, you could get one of these. Other carriers also sell similar do-dads. The iPhone also runs Skype so you can call out over that if you have WiFi signal.
posted by chairface at 3:31 PM on September 30, 2010
2. It is. Common complaint is it's terrible in SF and NY due to the high hipster density/excess demand. It's bad in my apartment in the SF suburbs but great in my office building.
3. No idea. I doubt their network is really worse than anyone else's overall.
Also, you could get one of these. Other carriers also sell similar do-dads. The iPhone also runs Skype so you can call out over that if you have WiFi signal.
posted by chairface at 3:31 PM on September 30, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wayofthedodo at 4:24 PM on September 29, 2010